Me la paso vs Me lo paso
Okay, so my spanish textbook that I use in school says "Me la paso..." means "I'm always doing..." My spanish teacher said that you can use lo/la depending on the situation, but she didn't go into detail. The book never specifies that both can be used, which probably means only la can be used. What is the direct object it is defining? I can't imagine it is time, as time is "el tiempo", masculine. I would think that the direct object is probably not able to be determined just like this, but any suggestions? I am really confused on what the book is referring to as the feminine direct object. I am also confused why my spanish teacher says this direct object can be changed. Please help me! ¡Gracias!
2 Answers
Me la paso (la velada, la tarde, la vida) pensado en ti. It's an idiomatic expression, which can also be expressed as Me lo paso (el tiempo, el día, el año) pensando en ti.
Variants:
Me lo pasaré solo (it can be el día, el año, el mes)
Me la pasaré solo (it can be la noche, la tarde, la temporada).
I hope this helps!
You have every right to be confused with both a textbook and a teacher not giving you a complete explanation. Maybe you should consider trading them both in for newer versions.
In Spanish when we have an abstract or unidentifiable thing, it´s gender will always be masculine. So to say "me la paso ......." we need context that will identify what la is. With "me lo paso ......" we don´t need identification of the pronoun, although context may or may not identify it, ie: you are asked "¿Qué tal?" You can respond "Me lo paso bien." This is a correct but abstract answer because you haven´t identified lo, but you could be referring to "la vida," "el tiempo," "el trabajo," "el día," la tarde," etc. - we don´t know.
A similar usage: You friend tells you about a great idea he has and then asks you what you think, so he asks "¨Cómo lo ves?" This is never asked using la again because the thing as far as gender is concerned is abstract.
